Image Credit: The Adler Lab at the University of California, San Diego In the fall of 2024, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) helped sponsor the Gene Therapy Initiative symposium in La Jolla, CA. While there, CIRM staff caught up with a few CIRM grantees who are working on gene therapy approaches to treating … Continue reading Gene Therapy for Heart Failure: A Conversation with Eric Adler, MD
Gene therapies for Friedreich’s Ataxia: A conversation with Liz Soragni, PhD
Liz Soragni, PhD, Director of Research at the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance In the fall of 2024, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) helped sponsor the Gene Therapy Initiative symposium in La Jolla, CA. While there, CIRM staff caught up with a few CIRM grantees who are working on gene therapy approaches to treating … Continue reading Gene therapies for Friedreich’s Ataxia: A conversation with Liz Soragni, PhD
20 years of CIRM: After spurring new research, CIRM’s iPSC repository closes
In celebration of CIRM’s 20th anniversary, we have been reflecting on some of the early projects we supported and their outcomes. This blog is a little different, because it also marks the end of a project. In 2013 CIRM announced a $32 million project to create a repository of stem cell lines from people with … Continue reading 20 years of CIRM: After spurring new research, CIRM’s iPSC repository closes
Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Shows Positive Results in Early Trial
Image Credit: Shutterstock Here’s a shocking statistic: in 2020, 7.6% of the world’s population was living with the most common form of arthritis – osteoarthritis (OA). That amounts to 595 million people globally and 32.5 million adults in the U.S. That’s a lot of people with painful knees, hips, and other joints. Although pain medication … Continue reading Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Shows Positive Results in Early Trial
20 Years of CIRM: The evolution of a CIRM-funded therapy for macular degeneration
Image Credit: University of Southern California (USC) Eye Institute In celebration of CIRM’s 20th anniversary, we are reflecting on some of the early projects we supported that have since advanced to clinical trials. One such trial for a form of blindness originated with a 2007 SEED grant to David Hinton, MD, of the University of … Continue reading 20 Years of CIRM: The evolution of a CIRM-funded therapy for macular degeneration
New gene therapy aims to restore function in early-onset Parkinson’s
Image source: Shutterstock Nearly one million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson’s disease, which causes progressive symptoms including tremors, stiffness, and gait and balance issues. Although there are medications to treat symptoms, the disease has no cure. To date, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has invested more than $109 million in … Continue reading New gene therapy aims to restore function in early-onset Parkinson’s
How a childhood condition sparked a career in regenerative medicine
CIRM Scholar Dongwei Sun, PhD (left), with his mentor Huinan Liu, PhD, professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside. As a child, Dongwei Sun underwent a medical treatment that left his lower limbs weak and occasionally numb. "This inspired my dedication to develop biomedical technologies that can prevent, treat, and potentially cure debilitating … Continue reading How a childhood condition sparked a career in regenerative medicine
Diving into a new era of treatment: A patient’s journey with an epilepsy stem cell therapy
Justin Graves diving by the Grand Cayman Islands In 2007, Justin Graves was working at a SCUBA shop in Louisville, Kentucky, when he had his first epileptic seizure. "SCUBA diving has just been something I've loved my whole life," he said. "My whole family loves it." Justin had to give up diving as well as … Continue reading Diving into a new era of treatment: A patient’s journey with an epilepsy stem cell therapy
Filling gaps in federal research funding with a focus on neurological diseases
Over the past 20 years, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has supercharged research in California in ways that have often filled gaps in federal research funding. This has been true since CIRM was founded in 2004, and federal funding for embryonic stem cell research was extremely hard to come by. Now, given current … Continue reading Filling gaps in federal research funding with a focus on neurological diseases
20 Years of CIRM: From building the infrastructure to clinical trials
Twenty years ago, Californians voted in favor of Proposition 71, which allocated $3 billion to support stem cell research and created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). In 2020, Proposition 14 passed, providing an additional $5.5 billion. CIRM will reflect on the past two decades, highlighting early research that has evolved into potential therapies, … Continue reading 20 Years of CIRM: From building the infrastructure to clinical trials
The Stem Cellar 